Embracing the Journey: Self-Discovery, Art, and Resilience w/ DaVida Sal - Pt. 1

Have you ever wondered what it takes to embark on a journey of self-discovery and transition, all alone, in a world that often seems unaccepting?

Our guest in this episode is DaVida Sal, a transgender nomad artist from Spain, who did just that.  At 16, she left her home to navigate this path without any family support.  Following her heart’s desires, she moved to the United States for love and faced numerous challenges to afford her transition.

Contrary to societal perceptions, DaVida invites everyone to love themselves, using her body as a canvas to spread messages of love, compassion, freedom, and peace.   

Get Four Agreements on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Q2zgOf

Connect & Follow DaVida
▶︎ WEBSITE  | www.DaVidaSalabert.com
▶︎ YOUTUBE  | https://www.youtube.com/@DaVidaSal444
▶︎ INSTAGRAM | https://www.instagram.com/davidasal444/
▶︎ FACEBOOK  | https://www.facebook.com/davidasal4444/

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Chapters

• 0:00 Journey of Self-Discovery and Transition
• 6:05 Nomadic Artistic Inspiration and Self-Expression
• 18:25 Films as Therapy and Nonsensical Art
• 26:01 Love Revolution

Transcript

Shelbe Chang: 0:26

Okay, welcome back to the Transparency Podcast Show. Today I have a very, very amazing guest from overseas not overseas from other countries, kind of right. So I knew her from years ago pre-pandemic, actually right, we met and we connect, and her photos and artistic work is just so amazing and also blend into the activism of trans people, trans voice right. So today I'm going to introduce you Davida Her name you should use to use J-Jio Love, right. That's right yeah well come to the show and.

DaVida Sal: 1:16

Thank you so much, Shelbe, for having me. I'm so blessed to have a platform to share my voice, my message, with all of you and all your friends and followers all over the world, and you know like I'm actually down you, I'm with neighbors. I mean, mexico is like a US state almost you know, yeah, california back then is that's fine. Well, yeah, before Mexico, I used to be Spain and I'm from Spain, right, so now I'm claiming back my land.

Shelbe Chang: 1:50

Oh yeah, you originally from Spain, so you want to kind of let our audience and listener to know who you are and share your background a little bit.

DaVida Sal: 1:59

Yeah, I'm just removing my shoes, don't worry, bound it and connect. This is a very conversational episode yeah you're making people yeah, you're making people feel more comfortable.

Shelbe Chang: 2:11

You see, I'm in my bedroom, so I'm wearing just two-chaining grow-chat. Two-chaining, yeah, all right.

DaVida Sal: 2:18

Well, let's gossip then. Yeah, Sure, okay. So let me tell the audience my story. I was born in Barcelona, spain, a few decades ago. I'm not going to tell you exactly where, I don't want anybody to know my age Younger than me for sure. I'm ageless. We are ages. You know, age is just a number, correct, it's all in the heart, the energy, how you live your life. So I was born in Barcelona, spain, well, actually, in a little town south of Barcelona, and it was very repressive, conservative town, very Catholic, and I was feeling claustrophobia, I was feeling ex-faceted in that town, people were wearing black and gray and browns. I saw no color, no excitement, no magic. So one day I decided to live it all and become me. You know, when I was 16, there was the legal age to drop school, drop your family. I started my journey as David, as a priestess, all the way now. All the way now. But you know, long story short, thank you. Long story short.

DaVida Sal: 3:45

I came to the United States in 2005. I fell in love and I left everything behind. I was having a great life. I was in TV, I was in movies, I was modeling in Madrid. When I left my town, I went to Madrid to discover myself. But one day I left everything for love, because for me, following your heart, it's number one in my life. I don't care about money, I don't care about fame. I only care about following my heart's desires.

Shelbe Chang: 4:21

Yes, so can we rewind back a little bit? So when you say when you're 16, you it's the age in Spain to drop everything. So does that mean your family members that they don't know about your change, your transitioning back?

DaVida Sal: 4:39

Well, back then, you know I was, I was discovering myself, knowing who I am, and you know I had to leave everything to become myself. I had no help, no support from my family or from anyone to start this process to become legal, so I had to do it all from scratch. That's why I'm so proud to be who I am, because you know it was an easy. It wasn't given to me, of course.

Shelbe Chang: 5:11

Yeah, so I do agree with you, because a lot of people these days are giving or you know, or taking. You know they're looking for someone or some organization to take care of them and they don't see us as a you know, a courage act to do it by doing this, for being ourselves is very it takes. Courage is not just wake up Then it's a lot of work I want to be Shelby, I want to be the leader. You know this doesn't work that way.

DaVida Sal: 5:42

No, I mean now, nowadays, you have the government helping you to transition and giving you the hormones and everything. Back in the day, we had no help at all, so I had to do things I didn't want to do to be able to afford my transition. Yeah, and you know, like that's what I'm proud of.

Shelbe Chang: 6:05

Yeah, You're very, you're very beautiful, and when I first met you, I didn't know. And I think I shared this with you when I first saw your picture in your in person. It reminds me of left Tyler. Remember Left Tyler? Yes, I was like wow.

DaVida Sal: 6:23

It depends on the day, sometimes on the day man or Lana Del Rey or Kate Macon cell, but before I was to bed, so I was left, tyler Then.

Shelbe Chang: 6:33

I went to the plant in the area with the plant.

Shelbe Chang: 6:36

So I was Nicole Kimman or Lana Del Rey, oh yeah, nicole Kimman too, yeah, so yeah so very inspired Because when I met you I considered I just kind of started, you know, in the midway, so I see the possibility, that I see the beauty that, that that any of us can become Right. So so you want to tell us how did you like I know you travel a lot Like, how did you manage to get into different places? Like do you, do you use, like you want to be a different place to to spray the voice, spray your artistic side? You know what, like your purpose of traveling around?

DaVida Sal: 7:16

Yeah, well, I'm a nomad. I'm a nomad. I cannot be in one place for too long. Oh, I cannot be with one relationship for too long. I change, I need to. I need to explore and discover and learn some. And I'm still looking for, searching for my place in the world. This calendar is a fucking lot. I don't want it. It's OK, I know. So, yeah, I'm still looking, searching for my place on this planet, right, and I don't think it's Mexico and I don't think it's US.

Shelbe Chang: 7:55

So I don't know, like, still debating, I think maybe, maybe your place or our place is not a planet's universe out there.

DaVida Sal: 8:08

I know, I know I feel homesick. You know, ever since I was born, I always felt I was an alien. You know, I felt I was part of this planet or this humanity. Now I'm feeling more human than ever because our humanity is being geopartized and it's being challenged by the new technologies and the AI and you know all that stuff. So now I feel more human than ever.

Shelbe Chang: 8:43

So let's talk about your arts a little bit. Your movie, you make movies too. So let's go with the arts, your photography, and I just follow you and you, you're not just post beautiful, but you really, I'll say, costume right, even though some of the photo you do is nudity, but you put on, you paint yourself and make it into a costume. I think that's very, very artistic. Can you kind of share with us and how do you get that inspiration or how do you get that idea?

DaVida Sal: 9:17

Yeah, absolutely Well, I use my body as a canvas, I use my body as a banner right To share my message, to spread my message of love, compassion, freedom, peace. I'm all about that. So I use my creativity, my imagination and my body to make an impact, to raise awareness for the social issues and injustices that I feel very compelled to share. And there is so much going on, right. There's so much chaos much conflict so.

DaVida Sal: 9:57

I have to pick what's more passionate about. I have a great body. I love my body. I love my body. Growing up, I was ashamed because I was too tall and I was too thin and I was too. This too, that blah, blah, blah. But now I just feel it's a perfect body. It's such a gift.

Shelbe Chang: 10:21

As long as you love yourself, you like your body, then who cares about?

DaVida Sal: 10:27

what others think. I want everybody to love their bodies just the way. It's not because we're gifts, I mean the blessing that we are here right now talking. You know I lost so many beloved friends and family over the years. So, every day for me is a gift. Yes, so I don't have anything to complain about my life or my body or anything like that. I'm blessed.

Shelbe Chang: 10:52

Yes, I do feel your energy. I feel, like I mentioned I follow your posts. A lot of motivation or inspiration message that you give out I can reflect. You know, like you said, we should love who we are and our mind, our heart is what's important, not other people's opinion or other people's point of view of anything. Right, and once we are aligned inside out, then our vision, our eye, that's the reality, not other people's, because everyone has different point of view so they can see one thing one way than the other people. Absolutely, yeah, yeah. So that's why our days are like that.

DaVida Sal: 11:41

We all have an experience of life. We all have our own filters and lens, how we perceive life. But it's a problem, it's their trip, it's their own experience. It has nothing to do with mind. Exactly, you know like I want to recommend to you and all the audience if you haven't read the book the Four Agreements. You know, don Miguel Riz, the Four Agreements.

Shelbe Chang: 12:06

The Fourth Agreement. Ok, I'll put it down in my song, right?

DaVida Sal: 12:11

Yeah, the Four Agreements saved my life. Because the Four Agreements? The first is don't take anything personally.

Shelbe Chang: 12:18

Yes.

DaVida Sal: 12:18

However, it has nothing to do with you. It has to do with the other people how they perceive you.

Shelbe Chang: 12:24

Right.

DaVida Sal: 12:26

Don't make any assumptions, because sometimes we make assumptions right. Especially with trans women and trans men. We always afraid and insecure. They're going to find out what they're going to think. You know I sound too deep or I look too feminine or I look too this, and that you know you're making assumptions. Then always do your best. Whatever you do, always do your best and then be impeccable with your work. You know what. Any word that comes out of your mouth has to be very well thought, because words have power.

Shelbe Chang: 13:10

Yes, words is, everything is energy, so whatever you put out is energy. So when we're talking right now. We're kind of bouncing back and forth the energy.

DaVida Sal: 13:20

That's right. It's the first thing that. The first thing was the word of God, right. When God spoke, created the universe, so he has lots of power.

Shelbe Chang: 13:31

Yes, and I also recently just believe that every single person is a creator right. So you're live your reality. You have to create your own. If you're negative, then your life sucks. That's right.

DaVida Sal: 13:47

If you play the victim, you attract more victims. You're going to get a lot of negative.

Shelbe Chang: 13:54

So that's why some people are always negative. Some people are always down in a dream, because that's what they create to themselves. Right and this has to do with our trans people as well we want this life. We create our own identity first, and then we put the path, the journey in front of us to walk towards it. So, that's why I think I realized this as well. At the same time, and when we talk about book, you do have a. Is it a photo coffee table book? I've seen it.

DaVida Sal: 14:31

Yeah, I have to. I self-published two coffee table books about one art, which I call it artivism. It's art and activism combined. So I always been very creative and lots of imagination. So I thought and I always wanted to save the world. Ever since I was little, I was watching the movies Batman, hero movies I wanted to save the world. So one day I just created this persona Jill Love that was my warrior name and she became vital. She went vital overnight and she became like a big, big thing. You know, in 10 years I've done what I've done with my love revolution, Right, yeah, and I loved it. I got to travel the world and meet lots of people and cultures and it was really fun. And you know, I made, I made, really, I accomplished so much.

DaVida Sal: 15:36

You know, in the fourth of the day of Washington Post. Fourth of the year of Wall Street Journal. I got the certification of appreciation by Eddie Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles in 2015 for my human rights campaigns around the world. And yeah, that's something I want to. I want to inspire others to do.

Shelbe Chang: 16:01

It's not just me.

DaVida Sal: 16:03

I'm not doing this to be famous, of course, even though I love the fame and stuff you know, but I want the message to be famous. I want the message. Yes, I want to share them. Spread Right.

Shelbe Chang: 16:15

That's why we're doing yeah.

DaVida Sal: 16:16

I am just the tool, you know, the messenger, the channeler.

Shelbe Chang: 16:22

Right so the priestess. Yeah, same as we're doing this podcast, or just. I know there's a lot of haters out there, but there's a lot there's. Just as long as there's one person that we're doing the show, that we can help them. Just one person.

DaVida Sal: 16:39

Let's send the haters lots of love, because you know what they see in others, they see it in themselves. Exactly we're projecting all the time. Yeah, so let's send them love, and let's just focus on the ones who really care and respect and appreciate us.

Shelbe Chang: 17:01

So can people find those coffee table photo books.

DaVida Sal: 17:07

Yeah, you can go to my website, wwwdavidasalabergcom. Okay.

Shelbe Chang: 17:15

We will also include in the show notes yeah. I mean also the book that you mentioned from that Amazon store. Okay, so talk about photos, books. How about film, the like?

DaVida Sal: 17:29

let's talk about your film. I always wanted to be a filmmaker and an actress when I was a little girl. One day I started, I was in San Francisco and I made my first short film. It was 30 minutes.

Shelbe Chang: 17:45

Okay.

DaVida Sal: 17:46

And, honestly, I had no idea how to make movies or anything like that, I just knew I wanted to make them. And then you know, once you are very clear of what you want, the universe conspires to make it happen. And then my first short was Waves, a Tale of Love and Obsession, and I was very in love and obsessed with a man and then I was just having a hard time. So for me, making that movie really helped me to process and accept my emotions. So I use films as a therapy in a way.

Shelbe Chang: 18:29

Yeah, that's what a lot of artists, some musicians, using music singing as a therapy, as a channel to heal too as well. And for me myself this might sound a little selfish but at the same time, because my mom recently passed and I get lonely and I'm glad and blessed that I have this show to connect with people, so I won't feel that lonely. So it's very, very like you say what you work on and then the kind of like the universe will bring to you unexpectedly right.

DaVida Sal: 19:09

That's fine Right. But, shelby, you're not alone, we're all one, we're all connected.

Shelbe Chang: 19:15

Even if you're in Mexico.

DaVida Sal: 19:17

We're connected.

Shelbe Chang: 19:19

Yeah, just emotional taking over. That's why, otherwise you're right, you know, or I'll connect that in a way, and especially technology these days, so let's so you talk about more stuff about film. So that short is not released anywhere right now. Right.

DaVida Sal: 19:39

Well, it was on film binder. It was like a platform where you can upload your movies and people can pay every month to watch them or buy them. But you can go to my YouTube channel and you can see the trailers and stuff. You know, one day I will have them available on my website, but you know it's yeah.

Shelbe Chang: 20:04

Well, if you, if you, I was just want to offer you this, because I do have a video hosting channel, because we have a, you know, I have a media company, so I can host that video and then you can put it on your website and you can, like you say, sell it like pay per view or whatever whatnot. Yeah, we can talk about that, so, and that was my first film experience.

DaVida Sal: 20:31

Then I heard you're going to start a new project.

DaVida Sal: 20:36

Then I started a movie. It's called Saving Isis and that was in Santa Fe, new Mexico, about a girl trying to save her mom that she wants to kill herself. And you know I was doing crowdfunding and it raised $50,000 to make that movie and I had lots of followers and friends helping me and the quality value is really high in that movie because everything I do has to be perfect but the story is like the story doesn't make any sense. I love, I love the dream movies. Like David Lynch, luis Buñuel, I like to make movies that don't make sense, but it's just a very visually striking and some experience. Sometimes you don't have to make sense, it's okay.

Shelbe Chang: 21:35

Yeah, I like that because, just like what we talk about, everyone has different perspectives. So you make something it might make sense to other people, but not the other ones, right? So it's all and then when? You make something that's kind of like an open concept and that's the way that everyone can interpret it in a different direction, and that's a form. That's a type of art form, right, just like artistic. You know, I see those paintings. You don't know what that exactly is, so same right? Yeah, I think it's called abstract painting.

DaVida Sal: 22:15

Yeah, I love that because it just runs your imagination and I like people to think. But unfortunately Western cultures they don't like to think that much. And I'm European. We love, like independent author cult movies. That really puzzles you and you have to grab your head around. I love that. Right, you know most people, they just want to be entertained, they don't want to think.

Shelbe Chang: 22:46

They want to be okay. Yeah, I get it. I myself I've been there as well, because you know, growing up, teacher, that's what teacher tells you, that's what the boss tells you, that's what the parents tells you, right, and then, and then I'm very happy I mean, I shouldn't say happy for COVID. During COVID, I was able to discuss, you know, thinking outside of box, right so so that's why I can sense your energy now compared to before. Yeah, so you want to.

DaVida Sal: 23:21

You also mentioned that you're doing some filming in Mexico right now and you have some yeah, you know, I wish we couldn't have like two hours to talk about all the things that because I've done so many things Right, when I say something about this movie is saving ISIS is 90 minutes feature film about the girl trying to save her mom, but then in my real life my mom was dying of cancer.

Shelbe Chang: 23:50

Oh my.

DaVida Sal: 23:50

God and I never got to save her, and that was in 2012 when I finished the movie. So I had the premiere date on December 12, 2012, 2012. That was the premiere of my movie.

Shelbe Chang: 24:07

Wow, that story give me goosebumps right now, because that's why I just told you my mom passed and she passed with cancer. And again, you know we're always try to save our loved ones.

DaVida Sal: 24:18

I know, but she, she didn't want me to worry too much and she wanted to move back to Spain. So she heated for a while until it was too late. Then I couldn't even save my mom. Same thing. It was a horrible time. Horrible time, oh my God, because I my biggest fear was being manifested and I thought, well, maybe the movie had something to do with the real life. It was.

Shelbe Chang: 24:47

It's so strange.

DaVida Sal: 24:49

It's very strange.

Shelbe Chang: 24:50

Like you know, as you know, I made one too and somehow the character I play it kind of, it kind of become my reality. It's like a multi-verse, yeah.

DaVida Sal: 25:02

Like the movie Everything everywhere all at once, you know, do. I say it right Everything everywhere all at once, so everyone everything whatever Everything, everyone happens. I love that movie because we have so many alternate universes happening once at once. Right now we only see one, but only perceiving one. That's why so many layers, like an onion.

Shelbe Chang: 25:32

You know, because we only teach to look linear one line.

DaVida Sal: 25:37

That's right, that's what they teach in the school, they program you to go linear. You know.

Shelbe Chang: 25:43

And then, as right now as you, we mentioned technology, the gyms, telescopes go can go back to the past, right, so technically, past, present, future happens all at once. Yeah, that's right.

DaVida Sal: 25:59

So it all happens at once. So let me finish about the 2012, because everybody was telling us the world was going to end in 2012. The ending of the Mayan calendar and everything. So it was the ending of my world. Once your mom dies, you know as well as I do, you become an orphan and then the whole world collapses, right. And then you have rebirth yourself again. Yes, and then that's when my love revolution started.

DaVida Sal: 26:32

It all started in protest in Madrid. It was like thousands of people protesting, the government for you know, starting to measure some blah, blah, blah, right. And then that day I was between the riot police and it was between the riot, the protesters, and I wanted to bring a moment of peace and love and beauty and I thought what's the easiest, quickest thing I can do? So I removed my clothes and then I was kneeling down and I was praying to the goddess, and then I shifted the whole energy of the place. Those images became vital. That was in the cover of newspaper TV. I was everywhere, yeah, so that was the beginning of my love revolution and I was feeling an orphan. So when you see the images, you see like a woman that just lost her mom, right. So that was the start, the beginning of my love revolution, because I then knew that one person can really change the world if you really set your mind to.

Shelbe Chang: 27:40

Yeah.

DaVida Sal: 27:41

So that really empowered me and that's when I began my love revolution. I self-published two books, so you know from one very traumatic moment in my life, like losing my mom, and then I lost my dad too, the same day, one year later. Oh my God, it's crazy, I know. I know I found the strength, motivation, the courage to keep going and fulfill my childhood desires to change the world.

Shelbe Chang: 28:15

Yeah, that makes sense. A lot of times can you hear that grass calling Sorry. A lot of times it comes somehow. It takes trauma or certain events to change to see something different. But that happens to me too.